Comments on: How Do You Handle the Health Insurance Dilemma?

By: d

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 18:14:28 +0000

In this thread, many people have recommended high-deductible plans with an HSA. In NY, that combination may not be available. What about high-deductible plans without an HSA?

By: CARRIE

CARRIE — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 15:29:37 +0000

http://www.asihealthcare.com or call 1-800-929-8344 and give them referral id# 239416.

You can get an affordable healthcare plan and a free cell phone with clear reception and get 250 minutes added each month!

By: Jonathan Pletzke

Jonathan Pletzke — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 14:37:33 +0000

My story involves finding insurance for my family of 5, and going from a $1200 a month COBRA payment to a $300 a month plan that has great coverage and lets us sleep well at night. Like many people, I find the number of choices to be overwhelming. I've made some bad choices in the past when buying health insurance, and even been scammed. When I left my job nearly 3 years ago, I decided that I was going to buy health insurance properly. I went to the library, and couldn't find a book to answer all my questions. I went online, and found much confusing, misleading, and wrong information. So I set out to figure out what the best choice was for my family of 5. In the end, I found out so much that I put it into a book, a website, and a blog. My mission is to share this information with people so that they can make the right choice. I'd love to help everyone to find their best choice and not get ripped-off. Please visit www.besthealthinsurancebook.com and make use of the free resources, discussion board, and blog. -Jonathan Jonathan Pletzke is a consumer expert on health insurance and author of the health insurance book Get a Good Deal on Your Health Insurance Without Getting Ripped-Off and website http://www.besthealthinsurancebook.com

By: Web Worker Daily » Archive Health Insurance Outlook for U.S. Soloists Not Entirely Awful «

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 21:56:28 +0000

[...] more advice on health insurance for the self-employed, check our open thread where readers shared their experiences. And let’s hope that America’s next president takes decisive action to help those who [...]

By: The return of “Top English WP Blogs” « conduong.co.cc

The return of “Top English WP Blogs” « conduong.co.cc — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 10:47:49 +0000

[...] How Do You Handle the Health Insurance Dilemma? A reader asks: I am looking at striking out on my own and working for myself freelance. However, leaving the security […] [...]

By: R-Bro

R-Bro — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 14:11:25 +0000

My problem is that the rates are constantly going up. I signed up my family for a plan that was around $330/month, and within two years the premiums had gone up to nearly $500. The only claims we’d filed were for basic office visits and the like.

Then we switched over to MEGA (via the NASE), and a year later, here we go again: the rates are going up $30/month. Is that just the nature of the health-care beast?

By: Web Worker Daily » Archive Web Worker 101: The Insurance Question «

Web Worker Daily » Archive Web Worker 101: The Insurance Question « — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 19:00:40 +0000

[...] No Comments When we talk about insurance for web workers, we’re usually worrying about health insurance – and with good reason, considering how expensive health care and the associated [...]

By: Neal Watzman

Neal Watzman — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 23:49:00 +0000

Up until 4 years ago, I had to provide health insurance for my family. Over the years, I tried a variety of options that usually worked for a year or two. Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce was one. Policy rates kept going up and got to the point where I could do better elsewhere.

Since we were a healthy family, we ended up at the end with a $2500 deductible plan for a reasonable, but annually increasing plan. It was workable, and kept our out of pocket manageable.

Until my wife, bless her heart, took a job as a teachers aide with a district offering a pretty darn sweet health plan. Medical with $20 copays, dental, mental health. The pay isn’t good, but the benefits to our family more than make up for it.

By: 2008 New Years Resolutions | Business Wife & Life

2008 New Years Resolutions | Business Wife & Life — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 21:26:38 +0000

[...] You have the vision. You have the resources. You have the support. Yet there’s one thing holding you back from following your dreams…health insurance. [...]

By: Star

Star — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 15:38:43 +0000

Even as a chamber member, you will have to pass underwriting standards to get the insurance.

By: FMG guy

FMG guy — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 12:46:14 +0000

Check with your local Chamber of Commerce. They usually have insurance plans for small businesses that are affordable (considering the price of insurance these days), joining the Chamber can help you network and get new business at the same time. It’s usually a win-win!

By: Rob

Rob — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 12:35:22 +0000

If you look into getting your own plan and end up getting one with a high deductible (about $1,000 or more) you should look into opening a Health Savings Account (HSA). It is essentially an IRA for your medical expenses. There is a maximum amount you are allowed to contribute each year, and you can deduct the contributions off your taxes (if you were employed, and your company had an HSA, you could contribute pre-tax). All of your earnings are tax free as long as you use them for eligible expenses. And unlike Flex Spending Accounts, the money rolls over from year to year.

By: matthias muenzer

matthias muenzer — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 00:32:13 +0000

I can only recommend HSA coupled with high deductible plans. You have more control over your money, you don’t automatically hand it all over to the HMO. you have more control. If you are young and work on staying healthy and have little medical costs, you get to keep the HSA money. It rolls over to the netx year, and in a few years you may have aved so much that you can pay your medical bills just from the interest you are earning.
How cool is that?

By: Clara

Clara — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 23:26:57 +0000

@Laura: $700/YEAR? How do you manage that?
I thought I was lucky to be taking advantage of MA’s new laws with $126/month for a barebones, high-deductible, under-26 only plan.

By: Darren Meyer

Darren Meyer — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 21:41:03 +0000

With no children to worry about, and assuming you are reasonably healthy individuals, a Health Savings Account (HSA) is a pretty decent option. You can fund an HSA with pre-tax dollars, but unlike other pre-tax accounts you get to keep what you don't spend. Your HSA dollars can be used for prescriptions, medical expenses, and towards the deductible on a high-deductible insurance policy. High-deductible policies are cheap compared to the alternative. I have an employer who offers decent health insurance, but getting an HSA on my own has been significantly cheaper than paying my share of the employee benefits package. If your health is not great, you have expensive prescriptions, or are planning on expanding your family, check out the NASE -- one of the major benefits they offer is affordable health insurance for self-employed folks.

By: Laura

Laura — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 20:47:00 +0000

I pay only $700 a year for health insurance but I am young, healthy, childless, and my deductible is 5k. There is some affordable health insurance out there, unfortunately it seems to be only available to the select few. Still there is definitely a misconception out there that NO ONE can afford to buy their own health insurance, and I think a lot of young freelancers go without for this reason.